By Ritah Kemigisa
The chairman of the Peoples Front for Transition Dr. Kiiza Besigye has cast doubt on the possibility of the Parish Development Model achieving its intended purpose of alleviating millions of Ugandans from poverty.
President Museveni on Saturday launched the shs 490 billion programme at Kibuku district expressing confidence it will help Uganda achieve the desired social economic transformation
However, speaking on the KFM VPN show, Besigye said the programme is dead on arrival and lacks fundamentals for its work.
He added that the programme is another form of government propaganda that only creates false hope among the nationals whose problems are bigger than money can buy.
According to Besigye, the shs 17 million being given to parishes is wastage since the local leaders have not been well equipped to fight their way out of poverty.
He suggests that people are empowered with the right information and skills to help themselves develop.
To ensure the success of the programme, government has grounded it on seven pillars;Production, Storage, Processing and Marketing, Infrastructure and Economic Services,
Financial Inclusion, Social Services, Mindset Change and Crosscutting issues (gender, environment, disability, etc), Parish-based Information Management System, Governance and Administration.
Prioritized commodities under the parish model include coffee, cotton, cocoa, cassava, tea, vegetable oils (including oil palm), maize, rice, sugar cane, fish, diary, beef, bananas, beans, avocado, shea nut, cashew nuts, and macadamia.
